Chapter 905: New Arrival |
On the top floor of an old building without an elevator, Franca looked at the slightly musty rental apartment and grumbled, "In this location, for such a rundown place, even renting the entire unit costs 2200…"
The rental apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room that doubled as a dining room. Each room was very small. The master bedroom had a balcony, and the building was over 30 years old.
Even for such a rental, Franca had to use a Demoness's Instigation and leverage her social skills to negotiate the price down to under 2,500 from the female landlord, with only one month's deposit and rent instead of the usual three months'.
"It's fine," Jenna said, fairly satisfied with their current accommodation.
It was much better than where her family lived before her mother passed away.
Lumian glanced at the cash in his hand and said to Franca, "We only have 3,000 left. Even with what you borrowed, it's not even 6,000. And we still need to buy some ordinary clothes—we can't go out looking so eye-catching every day."
"It's okay," said Franca, now in a familiar environment and no longer as worried as before. She smiled calmly and confidently, "I can borrow again from each app, and so can you all. Added up, it's enough to support Ludwig for several months. Given such a long time, are you afraid we can't earn money?"
"Is borrowing money so easy here?" Jenna asked in surprise.
In Trier, whether pawning items at a pawn shop or borrowing from loan sharks, it wasn't a simple matter. The corresponding items or people had to have some value. But just now, she saw Franca tap her phone a few times and successfully borrow a sum of money.
Franca pursed her lips and remarked, "It is quite easy. Even the poorest people have some remaining value. If all else fails, they can be taken to have their organs sold…"
Obviously, she didn't like how easy online loans were, but now she had to take out a bunch of micro-loans to support Ludwig and the whole team, so she couldn't say the rest of what she was thinking.
Lumian took out the golden box that Madam Magician had returned from the Traveler's Bag and asked thoughtfully, "Are there places here that buy gold?"
The space contained in his Traveler's Bag had also significantly shrunk, now only equivalent to a storage room. He couldn't stock up too much food for Ludwig.
"There are, but they're strictly regulated. We'll see if there are any illegal channels later," said Franca, who was well-read and had some understanding of gold trading.
"Illegal channels?" Lumian said pensively, "When we try to sell gold through such channels, won't they see us as outsiders, easy to bully, afraid to report to the police on such matters, and just take our gold without paying?"
Franca gave Lumian the side-eye. "You want to fish again?"
"This is called receiving gifts from kind-hearted people." Lumian smiled. "For this kind of black-on-black crime, they probably won't report to the police. It shouldn't affect our law-abiding image, right?"
Through long-term daily influence from Aurore and Franca, and being in the corresponding environment, Lumian had gradually become proficient in using certain words and sentences.
"Can't you just find a proper job?" Franca said with a laugh.
"A job would only interfere with our observation of the people and events around Mr. Fool," Lumian reasoned.
"That's not necessarily true," Franca instinctively retorted. "What if that job could help you become Mr. Fool's colleague? Wouldn't that make observation more convenient?"
"That's true…" Lumian's gaze moved from Franca's face to Jenna and Anthony, as if considering who should apply for the corresponding job.
"Speaking of which, the company Mr. Fool works for was started by Emperor Roselle," Franca recalled the contents of the document. "The Emperor's real name wouldn't happen to be Huang Tao, would it? According to the Major Arcana card holders, it would occasionally be the Emperor's own projection, but most of the time it's a fake person woven by Mr. Fool in the dream. Well, now only the latter possibility remains. Who knows how long it will be before the Emperor gets a chance to resurrect…"
As she spoke, Franca suddenly laughed. "The Emperor's eldest daughter, Princess Bernadette, is named Bernie Huang in Mr. Fool's dream. Haha, what a cute name. Is this Mr. Fool's sense of humor?"
"You should restrain yourself a bit. Bernie Huang, no, Princess Bernadette often projects Her consciousness here. She seems to have an item similar to the lucky coin," Jenna reminded Franca with a smile. She had just read the corresponding description in the document.
By now, Lumian had made his decision.
"I or Anthony will apply for the job. If a Demoness enters the Emperor's company, it might cause quite a few troubles and make it hard to keep a low profile."
Franca and Jenna nodded heavily, both remembering the Emperor's words of wisdom.
Lumian brought the topic back to the gold matter.
"If I sell this golden box in the dream, will my golden box in reality disappear?
"If not, couldn't we sell it over and over by leaving the dream and returning?"
"…" Franca, Jenna, and Anthony were momentarily speechless.
Is this the influence of Amon's boon?
After a few seconds, Lumian mused, "It probably won't work. Mr. Fool is a great existence who controls errors and loopholes. He wouldn't leave such an obvious problem. I suspect selling gold in the dream is equivalent to sacrificing it to him…"
"I think so too," Franca agreed.
As they spoke, dozens of quiet and eerie black flames gathered around the two Demonesses and the male-appearing Lumian.
These twenty to thirty black flames flew to various parts of the room, burning away any possible insects.
Originally, Lumian could have engulfed the entire house in the Demoness's black flames to complete the cleaning, but now he could only exert the standard of a Sequence 7.
After finishing the cleaning, Franca began teaching Lumian and the others how to use their phones, and guiding Ludwig on how to play with his children's smartwatch.
Unknowingly, the sky gradually darkened.
"I'm hungry!" Ludwig's voice suddenly rang out.
Franca lifted her gaze from her phone, looked at the sky that had already turned to dusk, and sincerely exclaimed, "Phones are so much fun…"
Time flies so fast!
The amazed Lumian, Jenna, and the others put away their phones and went out to find a restaurant to avoid Ludwig causing trouble out of extreme hunger.
They hadn't even allocated who would sleep in which room yet.
After leaving the old residential complex, Franca glanced at the row of shops by the roadside and said with a smile, "Based on my previous observations, this city's prototype is one I once toured. The cooking standards of these street-side small shops might be even higher than big restaurants, and more suitable for people like us who can't afford high-end places.
"Let's eat at this one first, lest Ludwig can't wait."
She was pointing to a small restaurant just to the left of the residential complex. Business seemed decent, with several tables set up on the sidewalk.
Before going out, Lumian and the others had already adjusted their hair color and eye color using the Lie earring, and modified their facial features. Although they still attracted hidden or bold glances as handsome men and beautiful women, at least they didn't stand out as obviously foreign to their surroundings.
Franca chose one of the tables on the sidewalk, took the menu, and asked with a smile, "The specialty is spicy food. Can you handle it?"
"Didn't you say before that the essence of spiciness is a kind of pain? What's there to not handle?" Lumian replied nonchalantly.
Franca gave him a challenging look, then turned to Jenna with a smile and said, "Not everything is spicy. There are sweet and sour dishes, and some that focus on umami flavors. Two dishes I really like, Kung Pao Chicken and Yu Xiang Shredded Pork, can be made non-spicy. The proportion of sour, sweet, and other flavors might be different in each restaurant. It takes luck to find the type that suits your taste best. The two most satisfying times I've had were once in a time-honored restaurant and once in a hole-in-the-wall place like this.
"The Kung Pao Chicken in the time-honored restaurant was adjusted to a lychee paste flavor, using only chicken thigh meat, tender and not dry. The Yu Xiang Shredded Pork in that hole-in-the-wall place only used chopped scallions as a side vegetable, with sweet, sour, salty, and pickled pepper flavors all mixed into the sauce and stir-fried with the meat. This is different from the common practice, but very appetizing and delicious…
"Uh, should we order a few bottles of beer? We rarely have a full team dinner like this. Although I don't like bottled beer, I can make do with it…"
Ever since introducing phones on the train, Franca had maintained an excited state as if back on her home turf, constantly introducing and sharing, with a gleam in her eyes like a hint of sunlight.
Lumian didn't mind this fellow showing such enthusiastic host-like attitude, taking over all the things a team leader should say. Instead, he was infected with a sense of calm, relaxation, and joy because of it.
Summer nights darkened late, and even now, just after 7 o'clock, the sky was still somewhat bright. The breeze blowing past the tables and chairs on the roadside brought a hint of coolness from inside the restaurant and other shops, making the eating and drinking crowd increasingly lively. Some were laughing loudly, some were eating while fiddling with their phones, completely without the restraint of sitting on the sidewalk.
Jenna observed intently for a while, then said softly to Franca, "There's a strange sense of relaxation…"
She had seen people eating by the roadside in Quartier du Jardin Botanique and the market district before, but never had a similar feeling.
"This is one of the things I miss about the past," said Franca, her eyes bright, having already ordered the food.
At this moment, a woman with smooth, glossy black hair tied in a simple ponytail, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and fitness shorts, dragging sandals, came to the entrance of the small restaurant and said to the busy owner, "How long do I have to wait for takeout?"
"Sia, you're late today," the owner commented in a familiar tone.
Before Ms. Sia could answer, someone suddenly shouted from nearby, "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"
A figure ran past the tables and chairs, tightly gripping a diamond necklace.
As he ran past Ms. Sia, she suddenly raised her foot and delivered a side kick.
Bang!
The thief was kicked several meters away, falling to the ground in pain, momentarily unable to get up.
"This gal is quite fierce," Franca said, her eyes full of admiration.
Lumian looked at Ms. Sia's profile and said in a low voice, "Is that Sia Tas, the one who shares an apartment with Mr. Fool?"
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